WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (August 23, 2010) — Physicians can now test specifically for heroin use in their offices using the benchtop BioLis 24i chemistry analyzer. Carolina Liquid Chemistries (http://www.carolinachemistries.com), the provider of the BioLis 24i chemistry system, has added 6-Acetylmorphine, also known as 6-AM, to its expansive menu for the BioLis.
The BioLis 24i is one of the fastest growing physician office analyzers on the market, offering more than 16 drugs of abuse tests and more than 80 different tests overall. 6-AM is a unique metabolite of heroin (3,6 diacetylmorphine) and cannot be synthesized in the body from other opioids, such as codeine or morphine. The presence of 6-AM in the urine confirms that heroin was the opioid used by the patient.
“The specificity of the 6-AM assay is significant,” says Phil Shugart, President of Carolina Liquid Chemistries. “Other immunoassays for heroin test for the presence of morphine, which is a metabolite of a number of different illegal opiates. By providing a more specific assay for a certain drug of abuse, physicians can perform testing and make decisions about treatment plans more quickly and economically.”
Carolina Chemistries offers physicians a complete laboratory system consisting of equipment, assistance with CLIA compliance, technologist training offered in a state-of-the-art technology center and EMR interface capabilities.
About Carolina Liquid Chemistries Corp.
Founded in 1997 in Brea, Calif., Carolina Liquid Chemistries is an FDA regulated, ISO certified medical device manufacturer, distributor and service provider of chemistry systems and reagents for hospitals, clinical reference laboratories and physician practices. Now headquartered in the Piedmont Triad Research Park of Winston-Salem, N.C., Carolina Chemistries offers chemistry instruments that range in throughput from 180 to 1,400 tests per hour and repackages homocysteine reagents for a variety of chemistry analyzers in the bar-coded packages for Beckman and Olympus instruments. For more information, visit http://www.carolinachemistries.com.
